Earth Science, Soil Chemistry, and Archaeology

Abstract

Soil science and geology naturally combine in archaeology to study landscape, environment, the history of sites belonging to previous civilizations, to supply evidence for household and rural activities, or to retrieve fabrication and provenance of artifacts made of earth resources (e.g., chert and obsidian blades, gemstones, earthenware, and even glass and metallic objects). The long-term records of geophysics and geochemistry are practical also for radiocarbon studies of soil organic matter and pedogenic carbonates, for archaeomagnetic dating,1 and for resolving the sequence of archaeological deposits. During the occupation of a site, humans exploit the environment and affect the recycling of the ecosystem in distinctive ways. Anthropogenic sediments form